How Arnold Schwarzenegger Trains At 75 Years Old

Arnold Schwarzenegger training
Image via Instagram @schwarzenegger

Learn how “The Austrian Oak” stays stage-ready eternally. 

We all know Arnold Schwarzenegger — the man who went from winning Mr. Olympia seven times to becoming an actor and even serving as governor of California. He’s inspired many in bodybuilding and even has a competition named after him: The Arnold Classic. At 75, he continues to train and stay in amazing shape. Although his training is slightly different, he still includes key movements such as dips and overhead presses but uses different training cues. This article will cover how he trains today. 

At the height of his career as a bodybuilder and an actor, “The Austrian Oak” had a fierce routine. He worked out at least 2 hours a day to carve the insane physique that garnered him his seven Olympia titles and helped him become an action star on the silver screen for his role in The Terminator. However, now Schwarzenegger is 75, and you must train differently as you get older. Schwarzenegger said:

“I was in good shape then and worked out 2 hours a day. But after having several heart surgeries, I’ve had surgeries on my shoulders and knees and all those kinds of things. It’s important to kind of protect my body and do therapy training at the same time.”

For a 75-year-old, Arnold Schwarzenegger still looks the part of a bodybuilder, and he recently shared how he keeps in shape. Here’s an in-depth look into how Arnold Schwarzenegger trains at 75. 

Full Name: Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger
Weight Height Date of Birth
235 – 260lb 6’2” 07/30/1947
Profession Era Nationality
Bodybuilder, Actor, Politician 1960s- Till Date Austrian and American

 

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Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Training Routine at 75

Since Arnold Schwarzenegger is 75 and has done lots of surgery, he has to be more careful and efficient with his exercises. As a result, he doesn’t lift as heavily as he used to, instead opting for less rest between sets and lighter weight.

“To me, it’s not about working out with the heaviest weight, but it’s just I try to move as fast as I can from one exercise to the next.”

He did 25 sets in the workout below and usually goes for about 25-30 sets in half an hour. Here are the exercises which are split into arm and shoulder circuits. 

Exercise Sets Reps
Arm Circuit
Machine Preacher Curl 4 10-12
Machine Dip 4 10-12
Shoulder Circuit
Machine Overhead Press 5 10-12
Machine Lateral Raise 5 10-12
Machine Rear Delt Fly 5 10-12

Machine Preacher Curl

Machine preacher curls are a great way to isolate and challenge your biceps. Using a machine ensures that your biceps do the bulk of the work, giving you a greater squeeze at the top of reps. Arnold Schwarzenegger starts with higher reps in his first set, completing 30 reps to warm up his elbows before doing four sets with 10-12 reps. 

Seated Machine Dip

Seated machine dips target your triceps and work on your shoulders and chest muscles. Your triceps, pecs, and front delts all feel the burn when you do dips. For dips, Arnold Schwarzenegger also does an initial high first set with 30 reps to warm up before doing four sets of 10-12 reps. 

Machine Overhead Press

Overhead Press

Machine overhead presses help you to isolate and target your delts. You won’t need to use your core or abs for this routine as you’ll be seated, so the demand rests squarely on your shoulder muscles. Arnold Schwarzenegger does five sets of 10-12 reps and ends the set with a 5-second iso-hold squeeze. This study shows that iso-holds may be a time-efficient strategy to enhance development (1).

Machine Lateral Raise and Machine Rear Delt Fly

Machine lateral raises are another exercise that works on your shoulders, specifically the lateral deltoids. 

The machine rear delt fly is last on the list of Schawarzenegger’s routine. This exercise specifically targets your rear delts, as suggested. But it also works on your lats, traps, and rhomboids.

Arnold Schwarzenegger Edwin Mejia Jr. Vlad Yudin

Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Tips For Working Out

At the height of his bodybuilding career, Arnold Schwarzenegger could work out as much as five hours a day. As he said in 1977 in the documentary Pumping Iron, “There is nothing better than a pump.” 

Arnold Schwarzenegger finds that bodybuilding helps his body and works on his mind

“When you train, it’s not just that your body gets pumped up and stimulated, but your mind [does too] and you have a much more kinda positive outlook on the day and life.”

This study backs Schwarzenegger and shows that physical activity benefits your psychological health. Furthermore, it concludes that people of all ages — young, middle-aged, and older — who are physically active are happier (2). Regarding exercising consistently, Arnold Schwarzenegger has some valuable tips to share:

  1. Don’t think; do. When you consider how to get up and get started, you might get lazy and give up. Schwarzenegger says, “I don’t think. As soon as I get up in the morning, I feed my animals, then I get on my bicycle and bicycle down here (Gold’s Gym in Venice Beach, California)…The most important thing is don’t think. Just do. There’s a time to think, and there’s a time to do, roll out of bed, put your clothes on, and go…”
  2. Warm Up Adequately. An excellent warm-up raises your body temperature and tells it to get ready for exercise. It prepares you physically and mentally for your routine. Arnold Schwarzenegger warms up to protect the areas he considers vulnerable. Schwarzenegger states, “So we kind of warm up the area that is vulnerable. Like in my case, the elbows…When you do squats, you warm up the knees, or when you do that, you warm-up your lower back; it’s always important to warm-up and then cool down.”
  3. Use the correct technique. Proper form when exercising is vital as it ensures you meet your target. You could also get injuries from not using the right technique for movements. Arnold Schwarzenegger says, “So many people make mistakes when they exercise, and then they wonder, ‘Why am I not growing? Why am I not progressing?’ But you didn’t do the exercise the right way.”
  4. Get a good training partner. This study shows that having an exercise partner can motivate you and help you stick to your workout goals (3). Schwarzenegger states, “When you have a good training partner, he can inspire you to do the extra forced reps.”

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Arnold Schwarzenegger Calum Von Moger

References

  1. Schoenfeld, B. J., Grgic, J., Contreras, B., Delcastillo, K., Alto, A., Haun, C., De Souza, E. O., & Vigotsky, A. D. (2020). To Flex or Rest: Does Adding No-Load Isometric Actions to the Inter-Set Rest Period in Resistance Training Enhance Muscular Adaptations? A Randomized-Controlled Trial. Frontiers in physiology, 10, 1571. https://doi.org/10.3389/fphys.2019.01571 
  2. An, H. Y., Chen, W., Wang, C. W., Yang, H. F., Huang, W. T., & Fan, S. Y. (2020). The Relationships between Physical Activity and Life Satisfaction and Happiness among Young, Middle-Aged, and Older Adults. International journal of environmental research and public health, 17(13), 4817. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17134817
  3. Rackow, P., Scholz, U., & Hornung, R. (2015). Received social support and exercising: An intervention study to test the enabling hypothesis. British journal of health psychology, 20(4), 763–776. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjhp.12139 
Terry Ramos
As a personal trainer and writer, Terry loves changing lives through coaching and the written word. Terry has a B.S. in Kinesiology and is an ACSM Certified Personal Trainer and ISSA Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist. He enjoys playing music, reading, and watching films when he's not writing or training.